Gold Cup final will be intense, but questions remain over scheduling

The Gold Cup final Sunday night at Soldier Field should be quite the scene.

Perhaps the most popular soccer team in the United States, Mexico brings a large and boisterous crowd wherever it goes. The U.S. has its own devoted following, and the two arch-rivals playing in front of a sold-out crowd for a trophy will be memorable.

“It’s the biggest game there is,” U.S. star Christian Pulisic said Saturday. “We want to win. It’s the final. It’s against Mexico. It adds that much more.”

The date of the match, however, might leave plenty to be desired.

From one perspective, Sunday is a soccer feast. U.S.-Mexico ends a tripleheader of elite events, starting in the morning with the United States facing the Netherlands in the Women’s World Cup final. Next up is Brazil-Peru in the Copa America finale, followed by the Gold Cup decider.

“I think that this is an opportunity to be ‘Soccer Day in America,’ ” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said Friday. “When you think about the opportunity for the women to win the World Cup in the morning, and then you get to, I think, party for half the afternoon and then you get to take a little nap, and then you get up, you go to the game and you enjoy the final of the Gold Cup.”

That isn’t the only viewpoint going around.

To some, Sunday’s slate is another example of women’s soccer getting the short shrift because it’s hard to picture the men’s World Cup final competing for attention with other events.

Organizing association CONCACAF has admitted it was a mistake to schedule the Gold Cup final the same day as the Women’ World Cup final. U.S. women’s team star Megan Rapinoe said to reporters in France it’s “ridiculous” and “disappointing” there are two other finals on the same day the World Cup concludes.

During a tightly controlled availability Saturday, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani reiterated that scheduling the Gold Cup and Women’s World Cup finals on the same day is “something that happened that shouldn’t happen in the future, and it won’t happen in the future.”

Pulisic said “he’s not really worried” about the finals being bunched together.

“Obviously, we want the women to win,” Pulisic said. “We want to win, as well. When both of those things happen, it’s not going to bother me too much. I’ll be just as happy.”

The Gold Cup final is between teams in transition. Berhalter and Mexico coach Tata Martino are relatively new to their jobs. The U.S. is still trying to recover from missing the 2018 World Cup, while Martino’s group is without established stars Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Carlos Vela.

Berhalter said playing for a trophy and in an atmosphere like the one expected at Soldier Field should provide enough motivation, but the rivalry can’t be forgotten.

“We know these games are intense,” Berhalter said. “We know these games are heated, and it’s a good experience for our group.”